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Aire Valley Homes & Groundwork Trust launch
Green Doctor service, saving £££s on energy bills
 

Aire Valley Homes, the organisation which independently manages over 15,000 homes on behalf of Leeds City Council, has launched an innovative project - Green Doctor Warmer Living to promote energy efficiency and lower bills for council tenants. The scheme uses a Green Doctor to visit Aire Valley Homes tenants to help low income elderly, disabled, and young families of their high household fuel bills and prescribe healthy tips for environmental impact.

The Green Doctor pilot, which launched in 2007, became a great success in Leeds helping residents to save over £110 each year on their energy bills through the free fitting of the basic technical measures such as reflective radiator panels and hot water tank jackets.

Aire Valley Homes supports the Green Doctor Warmer Living project which aims to tackle fuel poverty and household carbon emissions simultaneously, concentrating on residents that are most often affected. With household carbon emissions in the UK making a significant contribution to climate change, the scheme encourages residents to minimise their own impact.

Neil Diamond, Regeneration Manager from Aire Valley Homes said: The Green Doctor service is extremely important to our customers as not only does it help them reduce the cost of their fuel bills by offering expert advice on how to be more energy efficient, but residents can also benefit from the installation of a wide range of free measures like reflective radiator panels which will help keep their homes warmer too.

The scheme, part of a progressive programme of environmental and social cohesion projects benefitting council residents, is born through the two year partnership between Aire Valley Homes and Groundwork. Another groundbreaking scheme set up through the partnership won a place in the final of the prestigious annual National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) Awards, which celebrates innovation and success in community projects.

Claire Pratley, Senior Co-ordinator from Groundwork Leeds said: The project is designed to deal with the problem of fuel poverty that so many people suffer in silence about, as well as to help householders reduce the amount of carbon emissions we are responsible for generating within the home. The scheme supports those who may not have the resources or the know-how to be more energy efficient.

Green Doctor will prescribe products such as free energy efficient light bulbs, reflective radiator panels, hot water tank jackets, and draft excluders to patients as well as giving free advice on how to cut bills by being more energy efficient.